Apparent terrorist attacks hit U.S.September 11, 2001 Posted: 10:15 a.m. EDT (1415 GMT) Flames and smoke erupt from the World Trade Center after a second plane crashes into the New York City landmark.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan on Tuesday in what President Bush called "an apparent terrorist attack on our country." About an hour after those crashes, an explosion forced the evacuation of the Pentagon in Washington and a fire erupted on the Washington Mall. Another fire was reported at the State Department. The White House and other government buildings were also evacuated. In Chicago, the Sears Tower was evacuated. Witnesses told CNN that a helicopter circled the Pentagon and disappeared on the other side of the building shortly before the explosion and fireball. The Federal Aviation Administration shut down all airports in the country. Bush, in Sarasota, Florida, where he was to speak on education reform, cancelled those plans. "Today we've had a national tragedy," Bush said from Sarasota, Florida, where he had been reading to children at Emma E. Booker Elementary School. He described the incidents as an "apparent terrorist act." The president said he was returning immediately to Washington and had authorized a full investigation to find those responsible.Harrowing imagesShortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday morning a plane smashed into the northern tower of the World Trade Center. About 20 minutes later, the second plane hit the southern tower, the harrowing images transmitted live on television. As television cameras transmitted the aftermath of the first crash, smoke and flames billowing from near the top of the northern tower, the video captured a second plane slamming into the southern tower. The horrific images of the second crash were caught in live video. At about 10 a.m., the south tower disappeared behind